Frame building wall construction



Dec. 20, 1955 c. E. GOLLNER FRAME BUILDING WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 1, 1952 MM b z w m m. w 1 u m m I I s ATTOENE ys,

United States Patent FRAME BUILDING WALL CONSTRUCTION Charles E. Gollner, Roslyn Heights, N. Y., assignor to Shadow Line Building Products Inc.

Application August 1, 1952, Serial No. 302,156

2 Claims. (Cl. 20-4) This invention relates to frame building walls and more particularly to an outer covering construction including sheathing and shingles arranged to provide shadow lines along the bottom edges of the rows of shingles.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide an improved frame building wall construction including an outer covering of composition shingles of substantially uniform thickness less than the maximum thickness of conventional wood shingles or clapboard, and a sheathing secured to the frame and carrying the shingles and so constructed and arranged that the bottom edges of each row of shingles is spaced outwardly from the outer surface of the adjacent row of shingles to closely simulate the appearance of wooden shingles or clapboard by producing shadow lines along the bottom edges of the rows of shingles; which provides a weatherproof and heat insulative outer wall covering; which greatly facilitates the application of the sheathing and shingles to the wall frame and maintains the bottom edges of the rows of shingles in straight and parallel lines; which eliminates the necessity for nailing the shingles at their upper ends to the sheathing and facilitates the removal and replacement of single shingles, if necessary; which permits the use of shingles which are thinner and of less structural strength than the composition shingles presently used; and which is simple and durable in construction, economical to manufacture, easy to apply, and neat and attractive in appearance.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the frame building wall constructed according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional view on the line 22 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a sheathing board or plank constituting an operative component of the invention.

With continued reference to the drawing, the numerals and 11 indicate two of the upright, substantially vertically disposed studs of the building frame. These studs are spaced apart a predetermined distance and arranged in substantially parallel relationship to each other with their outer edges substantially in a common plane and are secured in position by other members of the frame such as the sill and the plate, not illustrated.

Wedge-shaped fillers 12 are secured flatwise to the outer sides or edges of the frame studs and the fillers on each stud are disposed in end to end relationship with their thicker ends at the bottom ends thereof and with the thinner end of each filler adjacent the thicker end of the filler immediately thereabove. These fillers have a length somewhat greater than the thickness of the frame studs and a width somewhat less than the width of the sheathing planks 13 which are secured to the studs over the fillers. The sheathing planks 13 are horizontally disposed in edge to edge relationship to each other and have a width slightly greater than the length of the fillers 12, these fillers being all of substantially the same length. Each sheathing plank is secured to the studs over a horizontally disposed row of wedge-shaped fillers and has its upper edge bearing against the thicker, bottom ends of the fillers or the row immediately above the row of fillers against which the plank is disposed and its lower edge overhanging the bottom ends of the fillers of the row of fillers against which the plank is disposed. Each sheathing plank 13 is rabbeted along its inner side adjacent the 0 bottom edge thereof to provide two recesses or grooves 14 and 15 which extend longitudinally of the plank from one end thereof to the other. The groove 14 extends inwardly from the inner surface of the plank a distance approximately equal to one-third the thickness of the plank and has a width greater than its depth and its outer edge spaced from the bottom edge of the plank a distance approximately equal to its width and the groove 15 extends from the outer or bottom edge of the groove 14 to the bottom edge of the plank and has a depth from the bottom or inner surface of the groove 14 equal to approximately one-third of the thickness of the plank and a width greater than its depth and substantially equal to the width of the groove 14.

When the sheathing planks are applied to the studs of the building frame each plank except the lowest plank receives the upper edge portion of the plank immediately below it in the inner groove 14 so that the portion of the plank in which the grooves or rabbets 14 and 15 are provided overhang the upper edge of the plank immediately below. It will be observed from an inspection of Figure 1 that the thickness of the thick end of a filler 12 and the depth of a plank groove 14 together equal the thickness of the sheathing plank so that the lower edge portion of each plank above the bottom plank fits smoothly over the upper edge of the plank immediately therebelow.

After the sheathing planks 13 have been secured to the frame studs over the fillers 12 in horizontal position and with the upper edge portion of each plank received in the inner groove adjacent the lower edge of the plank immediately thereabove, the outer grooves 15 in the planks provide spaces at the lower edges of the plank between the inner or bottom surface of the groove 15 in each plank and the outer surface of the plank immediately there below and these spaces have a thickness substantially equal to the thickness of the composition shingles 16. After the sheathing planks have been secured to the frame by suitable means, such as the nails 17 driven through the planks and the fillers 12 and into the studs of the frame, the shingles are applied by placing the shingles against the outer side of the sheathing planks, raising the shingles until the top edges of the shingles are received in the outer groove 15 in the adjacent planks and then securing the shingles near their lower ends to the'sheathing planks against which they are disposed by suitable means, such as the shingle nails 19.

All of the sheathing planks are preferably applied to the wall frame before any of the shingles are applied, and, when the shingles are applied they may be applied starting at either the top or bottom of the wall as may be desired, starting from the top having the advantage that any heavy object, such as a hammer, dropped from an elevated position will not strike shingles which have been already applied to the wall below such position and also having the advantage that scaffolding may be secured to the unshingled portion of the wall and gradually lowered as the shingling progresses.

The shingles are arranged in horizontally disposed rows extending one row along each sheathing plank 13 and the shingles are of such a length that their bottom edges overhang the bottom edges of the sheathing boards to which they are applied. By placing the upper ends of the shingles in the grooves 15 in the planks the top and bottom edges of the rows of shingles are maintained in straight, parallel lines spaced apart exactly equal distances, and, because of the solid sheathing planks under the shingles it is not necessary to place the usual strips of asphalted paper under abutting edge portions of adjacent shingles.

The thickness of the bottom edge portions of the planks between the inner or bottom surfaces of the grooves 15 and the outer surfaces of the planks spaces the bottom ends of the shingles of each row outwardly from the outer surfaces of the shingles of the row immediately therebelow so that the bottom edges of the shingles are spaced outwardly from the adjacent shingles a distance at least as great as the major thickness of wooden shingles or Wooden clapboard. This provides heavy shadow lines along the bottom edges of the rows of shingles which gives to the wall an appearance closely simulating a wall of solid construction covered with wooden shingles or clapboard. 7

As there are no nails near the upper ends of the shingles and the shingles are not stressed or warped in any way, and since the bottom edges of the shingles are spaced outwardly from the adjacent shingles to provide the desired appearance, it is possible in this construction to use shingles which are thinner and of less structural strength than the composition shingles presently used to cover frame building walls. It is also easy to replace a broken shingle as all of the nails securing the shingles to the sheathing are readily accessible and it is not necessary to disturb any shingle other than the one being replaced.

Since the sheathing planks provided all of the guides necessary for the application of both the sheathing planks and the shingles, a highly skilled mechanic is not required to construct the wall and the desired appearance can be obtained by a mechanic not highly skilled.

While the fillers 12 and sheathing planks 13 may be conveniently formed of solid wood, they may also be formed of suitable composition materials which are available and have sufficient mechanical strength for the purpose.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

l. A frame building wall construction comprising vertically disposed studs arranged in spaced apart and substantially parallel relationship to each other with their outwardly disposed edges substantially in a common plane, wedge-shaped fillers secured on the outer edges of said studs with the fillers on each stud disposed in end to end relation with their thicker edges at the bottom thereof, horizontally disposed sheathing planks disposed against the outer surfaces of said fillers, means for securing only the fillers and planksto said studs, each of said planks having a width slightly greater than the width of said fillers and having its upper edge disposed against the thicker bottom edges of said fillers immediately thereabove and said planks having their lower edges overhanging the bottom edges of said fillers against the outer surface of which it is disposed and being provided in its inner surface along the bottom edge thereof with longitudinally extending rabbets one of which receives the outer portion of the upper edge of the plank immediately therebelow and the other of which provides a space between the lower edge portion of the corresponding plank and the outer surface of the plank immediately therebelow, and shingles disposed against the outer surface of said planks and arranged in rows along the individual planks with the upper ends of the shingles in said row received in the space defined by the other of said rabbets, exposed means for securing the lower edges of said shingles to the corresponding plank, said last mentioned means and said other rabbet being the sole means for securing each shingle to its corresponding plank.

2. A frame building Wall construction comprising vertically disposed studs arranged in-spaced apart and substantially parallel relationship to each other, with their outwardly disposed edges substantially in a common plane, wedge-shaped fillers secured on the outer edges of said studs with the fillers on each stud disposed in end to end relation with their thicker edges at the bottom thereof, horizontally disposed sheathing planks disposed against the outer surfaces of said fillers, means for securing only the fillers and planks to said studs, each of said planks having a width slightly greater than the width of said fillers and having its upper edge disposed against the thicker bottom edges of said fillers immediately thereabove and said planks having their lower edges overhanging the bottom edges of said fillers against the outer surface of which it is disposed and being provided in its inner surface along the bottom edge thereof with longitudinally extending rabbets one of which receives the outer portion of the upper edge of the plank immediately therebelow and the other of which provides a space between the lower edge'portion of the corresponding plank and the outer surface of the plank immediately therebelow, and shingles disposed against the outer surface of said planks and arranged in rows along the individual planks with the upper ends of the shingles in said row received in the space defined by the other of said rabbets, exposed means for securing the lower edges of said shinglesto the corresponding plank, said last mentioned means and said other rabbet being the sole means for securingeach shingle to its corresponding plank, the bottom ends of the shingles in each row being spaced outwardly from the outer edges of the shingles in the row immediately therebelow by the thickness of the bottom edge portion of the associated sheathing plank.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Humble Mar. 21, 1950 

